Permission to Speak, Sir!: Dad's Army on Radio

They don't like it up 'em!

After winning their frontline TV offensive, how did the Home Guard win the war of the ears with a rear-guard action for radio?

Legendary comedy producer Harold Snoad and actor Michael Knowles reveal how they went about adapting the classic BBC TV hit series for radio – as the writers Jimmy Perry and David Croft were too busy to do it themselves.

They reflect on how the cast took to re-recording the shows without cameras and discuss the changes that had to be made to make the TV scripts work.

Over three hours, enjoy six Dad's Army episodes reworked and re-recorded for BBC radio with the original TV cast:

* THE ENEMY WITH THE GATES: Captain Mainwaring's platoon try to capture Germans for a reward. From February 1974.

* DON'T FORGET THE DIVER: The platoon don crazy camouflage in a drill to attack Captain Square's HQ. From February 1975.

* THE DAY THE BALLOON WENT UP: Captain Mainwaring gets carried away with the platoon's war effort. From June 1975.

* WHEN DID YOU LAST SEE YOUR MONEY: Corporal Jones panics when he misplaces £500 collected for the servicemen's canteen. From May 1975.

* IF THE CAP FITS: Captain Mainwaring promotes fractious Private Frazer, with unexpected results. February 1975.

* PUT THAT LIGHT OUT: Captain Mainwaring's platoon causes havoc in Walmington-on-Sea during an air-raid. From February 1975.

Starring:

Captain Mainwaring …. Arthur Lowe
Sergeant Wilson …. John Le Mesurier
Corporal Jones …. Clive Dunn
Private Walker …. James Beck
Private Godfrey …. Arnold Ridley
Private Frazer …. John Laurie
Private Pike …. Ian Lavender
Warden Hodges …. Bill Pertwee
Vicar …. Frank Williams
The Verger …. Edward Sinclair
Announcer …. John Snagge

Snoad and Knowles' association with Dad's Army continued with their spin off radio comedy series 'It Sticks Out Half A Mile' - listen out for it on BBC Radio 4 Extra.

Producer: Martin Dempsey

Made for BBC 7 and first brodcast in November 2005.